‘Parents not sharing blood samples of kids’: Health officials

During a recent survey, BMC officials found 22 new suspected measles cases in two wards (11 each) — F(S)-Parel and P (N)-Malad. However, officials have managed to collect only five and four blood samples of these cases from the respective wards.

Many parents of the children suspected to have contracted measles are unwilling to share their child’s blood samples, which is proving to be a hurdle in confirming the cases in a laboratory test, said health officials from the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Many parents of the children suspected to have contracted measles are unwilling to share their child’s blood samples, which is proving to be a hurdle in confirming the cases in a laboratory test, said health officials from the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).(AFP)

During a recent survey, BMC officials found 22 new suspected measles cases in two wards (11 each) — F(S)-Parel and P (N)-Malad. However, officials have managed to collect only five and four blood samples of these cases from the respective wards.

“Many parents have expressed reservations about giving their blood samples. We are trying to convince them,” said Dr Chandrashekar Chiplunkar, assistant health officer, BMC. Chiplunkar said vaccination coverage at both these wards has been ‘poor ’— less than 80%.

According to the World Health Organisation, “Laboratory confirmation of cases of measles is a vital aspect of surveillance at all stages of control programmes as a clinical diagnosis is unreliable.”

Experts said to conclusively detect the presence of the virus causing measles, blood samples need to be collected within 28 days from the time symptoms surface. “It is important to confirm the cases for developing strategies to intensify immunisation,” said a BMC official